Former Phoenix man charged with animal cruelty had been visited by police before

Phoenix, NY -- Police previously had responded to animal complaints at the Cherry Street residence of the man who had nearly 70 animals living with him in his apartment.

Police Chief Timothy Chura said the animal complaints dealt with barking dogs and noise and officers never found anything out of the ordinary when checking on the complaints.

That all changed May 16, when police were called to the apartment at 86 Cherry St. after a person removing some aquariums from the porch found a dead animal in one of the aquariums.

Phoenix Police officers Edward Cox and Michael Rathbun responded and found five dead exotic animals packed in plastic garbage bags on the porch and several other animal bodies were found in a second-floor bedroom. Police also said the apartment was filled with trash and animal feces and they found some of the animals had tried to burrow through a wall into the apartment next door.

Chura said Steven Hart, 24, who now lives on Shants Road, Jordan, is charged with seven counts of animal cruelty, all misdemeanors.

He said Hart had been living in the Cherry Street apartment with a Great Dane, Bernese mountain dog, two Australian cattle dogs, a red-nosed pit bull, seven cats, 30 ferrets, four chinchillas, one red-tailed boa snake, two ball pythons, a coastal carpet python, two iguanas, one armadillo lizard, two bearded dragons, one macaw, two prairie dogs, two squirrels, one red-footed tortoise, one leopard tortoise, one gecko, one tegu, one chameleon and two hedgehogs.

"He said he liked animals," Chura said.

When police responded to the Cherry Street apartment, they found only the dead animals in the house. Chura said Hart had given some of the live animals to new owners and took some with him when he moved to Jordan about the end of February.

"He and his girlfriend had a break-up in January and then he couldn't pay the rent or electricity," Chura said. "He barely had enough money to feed himself. Some of the animals started to die -- some starved to death."

Hart was issued an appearance ticket and will be arraigned in Schroeppel Town Court June 13.

Chura said when his officers arrived at the Cherry Street apartment, they found the place in deplorable condition, filled with feces and the dead animal bodies. They called Chura who in turn made some calls to see if anyone could help at the scene.

Chura said there were no animal welfare groups he could call for help so Phoenix police did most of the work themselves dealing with the site. But Tanya Semchenko, president of the board of directors of the Oswego County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the SPCA helps out often in these types of cases but the chapter never was contacted.

She has since left messages for Chura at the police station.

Chura said the dead animals were removed by the department of public works. He said Hart was cooperative with police during the investigation and helped identify animals he had kept at the apartment.

Police said the Village Codes Enforcement Officer has since declared the apartment unfit for habitation.

The investigation continues and more arrests are possible. Anyone with information should call Phoenix Police at 695-2001